My Scary Lagos Boat Ride Experience

Sometime ago I was invited to a birthday party by the beach. It was such a fun-filled experience; one of those super exciting moments you simply wish would never end. Unfortunately, as the day came to an end and it was time to go home, the boat ride ruined the entire experience of the day. It was so scary you would literarily hold your breath reading it!

I was was very tired by the time we left the beach. And all I looked forward to was getting home and diving into my bed. In the meantime though, I sat there at the back of the motor boat as it does across the lagoon. But just then, the rain began to fall, even as the boat suddenly stopped right there in the middle of the water.
My heart sank into my stomach as the boat’s engine sputtered but failed to move. And just then the hysterics set in. I didn’t know how to swim and was actually scared of water. This was because earlier on in my life I had several unpleasant experiences with water; including the time I nearly died in a water tank while playing, as well as the day almost drowned while swimming in a swimming pool at my Alma Mater.

HolyKadarshian! I thought I was going to die that night. My mind raced as I thought about what to do to save my life. Swimming was definitely out of my options considering that I could not swim. And even if I could swim, we were right in the middle of the water, surrounded by pitch darkness and a heavy downpour. In the distance, I could see the Lagos landscape even though it was too distant to reassure me of anything. And so I imagined the worst case scenario- drowning in that water while some dangerous fish feasted on me. Scary!

Everyone was yelling at the boatman to save them. “Get us out of this place!” they screamed. Somebody even threatened to tell his daddy; no doubt the funniest thing to say in the middle of a major crisis such as that. I sat there drenched in the rain water even as I hanged on tightly to my seat to avaoid being howled away by the wind which had accompanied the rain. Awkwardly enough, I began thinking about all the books I had read about shipwrecks, even as I wondered if I would soon end up like RobinsonCrusoe.

The boatman was doing all he could to get the engine restarted. But each time he tried, the stupid engine would make some annoying sputtering sound and then go silent again. This kept up for a moment, during which time two boat’s sped past us; ignoring our cries for help. Luckily for us, the engine finally did get started. And without waiting one more second, the boatman zoomed off.

I can’t describe the haste with which everyone jumped off the useless boat the moment we reached ashore. And here is the truth, the fact that I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those people in the bait ended up giving testimonies in their churches the following Sunday. After all, a miracle happened to us; no?